Where are INC victims? – lawyer

“If the INC has death squads, who are their victims? Where are the bodies?”

These were the questions raised by lawyer Harry Roque, who on Thursday said allegations that the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) is employing death squads should be supported with proof.

He was reacting to the claim of former INC minister Lowell Menorca 2nd that the religious group is using hitmen to harass its members.

“Menorca’s legal counsel would do well to advise him to exercise restraint with his public statements, given the gravity of his allegations,” Roque, the counsel of the family of Jennifer Laude, said.

He said that while Menorca gave details regarding the alleged “death squads,” he found it strange that “Menorca could not name a single victim.”

“If I were to publicly accuse someone of maintaining a stable of killers, the first thing I would do to support the allegation is rattle off a list of its purported victims,” said the lawyer, a professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

“How can you investigate a murder if no one has died?” he stressed.

Roque stressed that the more damaging a public accusation, “the greater the burden of the accuser to prove this is true.”

“The reputation of a religious institution and its leaders are on the line. Menorca’s accusations sound like something out of a Dan Brown novel, and it would be horribly unjust if his allegations are based on nothing more than an urban myth,” he added.

“Did he hear about them or did he actually see them in action? Malaking distinction yan. (That’s a big distinction.) His lawyer is doing him a great disservice by letting him bring what could possibly be a very weak case to the public,” he said.

5 Comments

I think Atty Roque has a very strong point here. Irresponsible accusations without strong evidence can boomerang on the accuser as it can reflect on his integrity. If the accusations were just meant to harm/damage the accused, then legal action can be taken against the accuser. This practice of questionable accusations are very common in the Phl. Atty Roque is known for taking up the cudgels for the underdogs. I wish him well in his quest for a senate seat. He will be an asset as fighter for betterment of law enforcement. To all his bashers, shut up and study law.

Most, if not all, local media and online bloggers are quick to feed the public with exaggerated news of INC’s purported wrongdoings against the mutineers, a.k.a. “the fallen angels”.

The public have feasted on these malicious articles/blogs like hungry vultures, giving them a free ticket to spew their vile hatred against the church, hurling outrageous insults coming from all directions.

Listen folks, after the smoke clears and the dust settles, I believe the INC will once again be triumphant simply because all of these ridiculous allegations of hostages and illegal detentions are nothing but fabricated lies. It’s been proven from the very onset of this uprising that this group lied and used the media when Angel Manalo cried foul of being held hostage, but later admitted the hostage signs were as a result of a “kid’s joke” and therefore they were not held hostage…. Failed!

I also believe, though I could be wrong to assume, that these mutineers were emboldened to stage their uprising because they are being backed by “some powerful people” outside of the church with their own agendas. We shall wait and see…

Absolutely correct. Lowel Menorca can always lie thru his teeth and denies everything but that doesn’t mean they are legally binding. One thing I am sure he is not the person he purports to be. He is a deceiver with questionable integrity. Stop from persuading a gullible public to believe in you.